Year-end is a good time to be grateful for our Fellowship and the many blessings received and given through our community. The Stewardship Committee has been working on several things related to financial support as we come to the end of 2024 which we wanted to share with you. We hope you have noticed that we are trying to offer many ways of giving to CUUF, and hope you find this information interesting!

A few years ago we committed to a database called “Breeze” which is used by many congregations. It has allowed us to offer online pledge forms, and online giving. This software allowed us to take a “step up” as we grew with commitments to our minister and staff and to support the new small groups, study discussions, and religious education programs. It supports a pledge campaign with regular reports to donors.

We are in the middle of the budget/pledge year which runs from July 1 – June 30 (so is different from the tax year which is January-December). Our pledge giving is right on track with $51,548 pledged and $28,045 received. Our Fellowship has 44 households pledging. Pledges are helpful because they help us plan for the budget.

The 2024-2025 total budget is $87,364, which we hope will be accomplished with the pledges, plus offerings at services, and other gifts people make throughout the year.

Give to CUUF by texting “Give $___ 715-314-3536”

To text to give or to set up a recurring donation via your bank, first create your Breeze account. Go to https://cuuf.breezechms.com, click on create an account, and enter your name and e-mail address. You will get an e-mail invite from Breeze with a link to create a new password- protected account. Breeze will send you a second email to confirm your new account is active.  There, you make a secure connection to your bank account and you can safely text to give. It is easy and convenient.

Would you like to share what CUUF means to you via a statement in-person or in writing? The Stewardship Committee loves to share what motivates people to give to CUUF whether through your time, talents, or treasure. Why is the Fellowship an important part of your life? It is so inspiring to hear this in our community. If you are interested please contact ruth@oppedahl.com

As most of us with a traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) know, withdrawals are treated as part of our income and taxed accordingly – making up for the tax-free original contributions. The older we get, the larger these Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) must be. There is, however, an exception.  Donations from a traditional IRA given to charity do count towards the RMD but do not count as income. So, for example, if you are paying 20% in combined state and federal taxes, a $100 charitable contribution made from your regular checking account costs you $120 instead of $100 if made directly from the IRA.

Talk to the custodian of your Traditional IRA (as opposed to a Roth IRA) to find out how to make these direct donations. You can direct your broker to send one-time checks to charitable organizations you specify or send them periodic donations. They may be able to set up a separate IRA checking account you can use to make all your qualified donations, including those monthly reoccurring contributions that might now charge to your credit card. For donations to the Fellowship, the mailing address is:

Chequamegon UU Fellowship

Ashland, WI 54806